Ruminations on theatre, music, and just about anything else that crosses my bipolar brain.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

A Beautiful Day for Football

I'm watching the Jets-Patriots game, which is looking more like a street fight than a game, and I was just suddenly struck by a sense of what a great day this is for NFL football. From Delaware to Maine, it's also a great day to travel, because no one is going to be on the highways. With both teams from New York, one from New England, and one from Philadelphia playing today, everyone in the northeast is going to be watching.

Say what you want about the exciting offense in Indianapolis, 31 touchdowns in Seattle, and 1700 yards in Kansas City; playoff football is at its best east of the Mississippi, north of the Carolinas, and/or bordering the Great Lakes. No disrespect intended to the Saints and Chargers (my Super Bowl picks), but in January I want to see football in Chicago, Green Bay, New York, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Washington, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Foxboro. And I sure as heck want it outdoors.

And the fact that it's a day of intra-divisional rivalries just sweetens it. The Jets and Patriots, Giants and Eagles know each other well and despise each other. The only thing better than playoff football or rivalry football is playoff rivalry football. What I'm saying is: This is where it's at.

What a great day for NFL football. Too bad the weather's so nice. I wish it was snowing.

The Pats are not a wild card team, they just hosted a game in the first, or "wild card" round. They won the AFC East, but the Colts and Ravens had better records, so they got the bye week and home-field advantage. Now that the conferences have re-aligned to four divisions each, four division champs and two wild cards make the playoffs.

The weather wasn't so nice once the deluge began here, and soon afterward in Philadelphia. So much for finishing my raking.